City Seeks Volunteers for Homeless Count in Kingston

Published on: 2016/02/24 - in Featured News

The first ever nationally coordinated Point in Time (PiT) Count of homeless individuals – in fact, the first national PiT Count done by any country – is set to take place this year, and Kingston will be one of 30 communities to participate.

In partnership with the Government of Canada, United Way of KFL&A will be leading that local PiT Count, and is seeking members of the public to join them.

A PiT Count is a census of people who are homeless at the time of the Count along with the details of a short, anonymous survey those individuals are asked about. This national census is similar to the Count conducted by the City of Kingston and United Way in October 2013.

“Data collected through the PiT Count will help us identify and better understand the needs of people who are homeless in Kingston”, said President & CEO of United Way KFL&A, Bhavana Varma. “This will provide us with information to help our community align resources to achieve the long-term goal of ending homelessness here in Kingston.”

Interested participants are required to be available from 5pm to midnight on the evening of the count. It will be conducted by volunteers who will receive training in the process, and then be assigned a pre-mapped area to conduct a survey of individuals who are outdoors and encountering homelessness.

For more information and to register as a volunteer, individuals or groups can visit: unitedwaykfla.ca/homelessness-pit-count.

Volunteer registration and a mandatory training session will be held on April 6th at Regiopolis Notre Dame Secondary School (Russell Street entrance – off of Division Street), from 5:00pm – 7:00pm. Pizza and refreshments will be provided.


Photo: via Flickr (cc)